


Softly, smiling

by queen_in_shining_armour



Category: Sense8 (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Enjoy!, Everybody Cries, F/M, Food mention, Post Season 2, Will Gorski reflects on stuff, also i'm too soft for this, cute domestic fluff, i'm posting before the finale bc it's gonna be better than anything i can make, including me, inspired by asofterworld so yeah, lots of feelings, slight electrocution mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-19 00:51:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14863526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_in_shining_armour/pseuds/queen_in_shining_armour
Summary: “I like to secretly alter my friends’ diaries and put in ghosts, visions, happiness.” -Riley Blue





	Softly, smiling

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this in the works for a while and I wanted to post it before the finale came (so I'm cutting it a bit close!)
> 
> Thank you so much to @asoftersense8 on tumblr for letting me write this and also for making their posts go check them out they're super cool! Credit goes to Joey Comeau for the original text of 'A Softer World' with Emily Horne as the artist for the comic  
> And @tearyphoenixx promised me a fanart so be sure to check that out on my tumblr some time (no pressure bae sorry)
> 
> Please enjoy!

Will woke up suddenly in a cold sweat, gasping, mind reeling. Panicking, his hands reached out, clutching at air and empty bed sheets. He’d had another nightmare. Another one involving Wolfgang’s screams. 

He focused on controlling his breathing, his heart hammering in his chest. The clock on the bedside table read 04:17, a lot earlier than he had planned on waking. A few more moments and his breathing and heartbeat were vaguely back to normal. He closed his eyes, wondering if he could manage falling asleep again, when his mind flashed back to his nightmare as sharp as if he’d been electrocuted. Again. Nevermind then.

It was over. Rationally, Will knew it was over. BPO had taken a severe hit when they launched their attack on its leaders to get Wolfgang back. With the help of sensates around the world, BPO was returned to its original goal of researching and protecting homosensoriums. They would all be safe now.

But the danger still haunted Will, and left him with bad memories.

Riley was DJing at a concert that night and had left him to sleep early for work the next day, so he didn’t necessarily need to be quiet. Still, he padded softly to their small bathroom and took a quick shower. After he put on some comfortable clothes, he sank into his favourite armchair.

It was still too early for breakfast or anything productive. Will puffed out a sigh and ran his hands over his face. He hunched over, putting his forearms on his knees, clasping his hands together and looked to the large metal case on his right. He stared at it for a few seconds before walking over to it and flipping the latch.

Inside were some of Will’s personal effects, things he preferred to keep out of sight for most of the time. He sat on his haunches as he gazed upon everything. There were some of his Dad’s things, like his badge and his baseball glove and ball, but his death was still too painful to display anything that would remind Will of his father. Aside from a few childhood memories, he didn’t keep an awful lot in there. Most of the space was taken over by stacks of journals.

He picked out a stack of leather bound journals and collapsed back into his seat. After all the commotion over finding BPO and Wolfgang, and the subsequent planning and the long-awaited happiness when they succeeded, he’d never had a chance to go over his journals again. He opened the first book at the first page, scanned it lightly then skipped ahead.

> _ I’ve seen another woman recently. She had pale skin and even paler hair. She seemed confused that she was there, but she was smiling the whole time. Then I saw men with a gun and she disappeared like a ghost. She was different from the woman in the church. The connection feels the same and yet it isn’t. She was beautiful. I’d like to know her name. I love her smile. _

Will’s expression softened tenfold. He’d always liked writing a diary and it only got stronger when he’d entered the police force. Taking notes soothed him and he found it useful to jot down information for future reference. These journals he’d saved especially for his cluster. As soon as he’d had the vision with Angelica in the church he knew - call it a cop’s intuition if you will - but he knew that his new… experience was something to take note of.

They weren’t as formal as his case notes, but a blend of facts they’d gained about BPO, accounts of their fun all together and his feelings for Riley.

He read through the pages again. He smiled at his cluster’s shenanigans, cried when he remembered the pain and hardships they’d been through. His tears and laughter melded together until he could no longer differentiate between the two, until it was all just one emotion cascading out of him.

He felt better, the terror from his nightmare had been brushed aside by his love for his cluster. Everyone was safe and Will didn’t need to be afraid anymore.

 

He’d got to the second journal where he’d mostly been in a drug induced haze. His notes were sometimes quite clear, but the rest of the time they were vague and confusing. At this point he’d asked Riley to help him fill it in. 

He could tell where her pen had graced the page instead of his own, because her handwriting had a pretty cursive that sloped to the right. He continued to flick through the pages trying to piece together what he actually remembered with what he had written. It was then that he stumbled upon it. A whole page with only Riley’s handwriting accompanied by several doodles.

Far from the hurried scribbles of his drug addled mind, Riley had written a short poem.

> _ I watch you sleep, my love _ _  
>  _ _ and the thought came upon me _ _  
>  _ _ that against time, we are merely ephemeral _

In the midst of all this pain and fear and goddamned uncertainty, Riley had filled his journal with her beautiful delicate words, little sketches of ghosts and hearts and a border made of intricate swirls.

Will wasn’t bothered by the intrusion - he had asked her to help him fill in the blanks - but he hadn’t expected this.

He flipped the pages quickly, scanning for her familiar penmanship. A few days’ worth of entries later he saw a little footnote.

> _ I see a future in which our cluster is safe once more. We all become aunties and uncles and our children are taught about the vastness and beauty of the world. I’m sitting here with Capheus and Kala, and wondering what names we would give to our children Will _

Children… He hadn’t given the far future much thought, more focused on keeping them all alive over the past few years.

Further on in the journal there were even more of Riley’s little notes. More poems and wistful thoughts. They always stood out with doodles and sketches, some quick and others that looked like they’d taken longer to do. One of these painstakingly drawn sketches was a portrait of Will, asleep. Riley had studied him with his shirt off and Will could recognise each of the beauty marks that littered his torso. 

> _ I was a gangári before I met you, neither in this world nor theirs, but in your soul I found something I could tether myself back to earth _

He didn’t entirely understand the note she’d put at the bottom of the page, so he flipped over to the other side.

> __ I, born of flesh and ghost, was neither  
>  _ A ghost nor man, but mortal ghost.  
>  _ _ And I was struck down by death’s feather.  
>  _ ___ \- Dylan Thomas _

 

Considering the poem and the doodles of ghosts he guessed the previous inscription was something of the same ilk.

The very last entry in the second journal was a photo of the whole cluster, taken on the day they had all met each other in the flesh after they’d saved Wolfgang. They’d got all the way to the steps at Trafalgar Square when they realised they weren’t being followed. After revelling in their joyous reunion, Amanita had insisted they needed a photo for the occasion, and before anyone could protest she’d rushed in front of the group, given a sharp order to assemble, and snapped several shots.

Will stood in between Riley and Wolfgang, his left arm around Riley’s shoulders and his right hand gripping Wolfgang’s shoulder as hard as he could manage. He had dissolved into tears after the first photograph was snapped, which erupted into wholeheartedly deserved ugly crying when Amanita lowered her phone, signalling another group hug was in order.

Wolfgang looked pretty messed up from his time with BPO, with a black eye and split lip amongst other injuries hidden under his clothes. He didn’t seem to care though because the photo showed him beaming, not at the camera, but down towards the woman wrapped in his arms. His gaze was that of such fondness, he looked like he would combust from finally having her close to him. Kala had clasped his wrists tightly where they surrounded her and looked back at him from the corner of her eye with the same intensity.

Riley had her head on Will’s shoulder and a smile on her face so bright it should have broken the camera; that was the smile Will loved to see. She’d wound her arm around Capheus’ waist on her left, who had looped one arm around her waist in return and reached forward to hold hands with Sun and prop his head on top of hers.

Directly in front of Riley on the step below, Lito had his arms around Nomi and Sun. He had denied ever crying at all, but as soon as he heard Will sniffing behind him he burst into loud sobs. Nomi was also teary-eyed and her face blushed a happy dark pink as she held Kala’s shoulder. Sun held Capheus’ hand fiercely with a grin on her face.

Of all of his memories, this would be one Will would treasure for the rest of his life. Riley had framed the same picture to hang on the wall of their kitchen, but he didn’t know she had put one in his journal too.

On a whim, he turned the picture around to look at the back and spotted Riley’s beautiful handwriting again.

> _ Our family _
> 
>  

* * *

 

When Riley arrived home, Will was making breakfast, humming along to a soft Coldplay song on the radio. His journals were spread out on the table, one displaying a blank page and another open at a section she had drawn on.

He walked over when she stepped into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her head.

“I smell of cigarettes,” she warned, but returned the hug nevertheless.

“Don’t care,” Will mumbled back, burying his face even further into her hair.

They stayed like that for a few more seconds, until Will decided he did actually mind the smell and turned back to the bacon as he scrunched up his nose.

“Breakfast? I’ve got bacon and pancakes...”

Riley hummed an affirmative by the fridge as she took out a small bottle of water, and smiled knowingly at Will’s back when he switched on the kettle to make her a cup of herbal tea without needing to ask.

“What did I do to deserve you…” she muttered before she took a sip. She glanced over to the journals on the table to see that the second one was open at the portrait she had sketched so long ago. The blank journal next to it wasn’t as blank as she’d thought. Will had copied out the word gangári with question marks tagged on the end.

“It means wandering ghost,” she revealed, watching Will’s back as he poked at a pancake.

“Really? Huh, I thought it had something to do with ghosts…” Will turned off the stove with a smile and spun around to hold Riley again. “That’s how you feel about me?” he whispered in a deep, husky voice that had Riley glancing at his lips.

“Yes,” she whispered softly, before reaching up to gently kiss him. He leaned into the kiss, then suddenly lifted her up and twirled her around, eliciting a shrieking laugh.

He set her down and kissed her again quickly. They let go of each other and Riley set the plates of food onto the table while Will poured her tea and his coffee.

He turned around just in time to catch her drop a pen and sit down with an innocent look on her face. He looked at her pointedly so she stuck her tongue out in response.

 

He’ll see whatever she wrote one day. He had all the time in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly this story went wild but I love it. I'm being pretty vague because as much as I'd love for Will and Riley to live in Chicago and for Will to be a cop again, life doesn't always work like that. Please Sense8 finale let Will Gorski and Riley Blue and everybody else be happy!


End file.
